Field of the Application
Aspects of the present invention relate to a light emitting diode (LED) or other solid state light emitter light devices.
Description of the Related Art
The use of incandescent, fluorescent, High Intensity Discharge (HID) and halogen bulbs has been problematic in a number of ways. First, incandescent light bulbs are very energy-inefficient and require significant maintenance. A large percentage of the energy they consume is released as heat, rather than light. Although fluorescent bulbs are more efficient than incandescent light bulbs, they are still very inefficient when compared to light emitting diodes (LEDs) or other similar solid state light emitters. Such incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs are energy-inefficient, have shorter lifetimes and incur unwanted heat and high maintenance costs when compared to solid state light emitters. A short lifetime becomes even more problematic when used in overhead lighting in large buildings with high traffic and/or material movement or in other areas where access may be difficult, such as ceiling areas with lower area obstructions, and other hard to reach areas. Bulb replacement is not only time consuming and costly, but can be dangerous.
Large commercial or industrial buildings, e.g., with ceilings of 25′ height or more, often use metal halide lighting, which can produce an undesirable amount of heat and adverse impact to HVAC. Additional issues with these light fixtures is that they can periodically explode, sometimes dangerously emitting glass shards overhead of workers or others. Even when these facilities utilize T5 or T8 fluorescent lighting, they can experience very high maintenance and bulb disposal costs. These types of traditional lights also see much higher levels of lumen depreciation over time as compared to properly engineered LED lighting, and as a result, unless aggressive maintenance programs are utilized, lighting space can generally experience inadequate lower and upper area lighting conditions.